There was always something more
by Darth Wartriarr
Summary: AU: How does the death of someone close to you change the way one acts. To Lily Evans, James Potter was nothing but an arrogant prat however, that all changes with a single death and an apology. This is the story of how James Potter and Lily Evans fell in love and how that love eventually led to the downfall of the most powerful Dark Lord in history.


**There was always something more**

 **Chapter 1: Apologies**

 **A/N: Just wanted to apologise about the fact that I haven't updated any of my other stories and that's because right now I've been so focused on my college work and planning for universities. Anyway, I'm mainly focusing on this story as I'm struggling to find any James and Lily stories that are good that I haven't already read.**

Severus Snape knew that things between him and Lily Evans had finally reached their boiling point. It was to be expected really, both had being slowly drifting apart ever since fourth year. Mainly on account of his own choices in friends and obsession in the Dark Arts. Those two things were large factors that led to the friendship he had with Lily becoming strained. However, it had being his inability to call her 'Mudblood' that kept their friendship going no matter how strained it became.

Now however, that was not the case. All because of James Potter and his best friend Sirius Black. He hated them both, but Potter more so.

Potter was arrogant, good looking, extremely talented in magic, popular and worst of all, was completely and utterly enamoured with Lily. His Lily. Because that's what she was. His. No one else's and that's why he hated Potter more than anything.

He had chased off far too many guys that wished to date her because she was his and his alone. He was her first friend, the person who introduced her to the magical world and eventually he would be her first everything. Nothing would get in the way of that, especially not Potter of all people.

Sighing, Severus came to a stop at one of the shelves in the library and looked round to see Lily sat there, head in a book. It made him smile watching her read and he found himself unable to move forwards or backwards. She was perfect in every way. He had always known that she was beautiful, but she was breathtakingly beautiful ever since she began enters the stages of womanhood. Yet, she was never more beautiful than when she was reading a book. It was just so Lily.

He took a deep breath and prepared himself to get shot down once more. Ever since the incident two weeks ago, Lily had refused to speak to him or listen to his apologies. But he would continue to beg her for forgiveness because she was worth it.

Severus froze however when the person he hated most appeared and stopped beside Lily. Moving backwards, he hid fully behind the shelf and looked through the gaps as to see what Potter was going to do. It would be entirely amusing to see the arrogant fool get shot down. Oh so very funny.

"Evans." Lily's head looked up and while her eyes narrowed, they lacked a lot of the anger they usually had he noted. They actually looked tired; defeated. "I know you're probably going to say no, but I was hoping if I could have five minutes of your time. Please?"

There was silence and Snape couldn't wait to see him get shot down like so many times before.

"Fine." Lily whispered quietly.

Wait. What?

How could she allow Potter of all people to speak to her and to actually chose to listen to him when she refused to so much as look at him. Her friend since childhood. She hated Potter and yet here she was allowing him to apologise. It didn't make any sense.

"Thank you." Snape watched as Potter sat down and looked directly at Lily. There was a few moments of silence before Potter spoke. "I know that saying sorry isn't going to make everything I've ever done to you alright, but I do know that it's a start." Severus had to take a few moments to fully grasp that Potter was actually talking maturely, lacking his usual arrogance. "I just wanted to let you know that certain events have made me rethink my life and the choices I've made and quite frankly, I hate myself just like you hate me. I've been an arrogant prat who bullies others under the pretence of having a laugh and for that I am so sorry."

Snape watched as Lily simply stared at Potter in shock at the mature apology been bestowed upon her.

"I don't expect you too, but I was also hoping if we could perhaps, erm, become friends?" Potter's voice was filled with hope and a lot of doubt. Something that was to be expected seen as though Lily had hated him for the five years they had been at Hogwarts. "I don't deserve it, deserve you, but I wanted to show you that I am changing. I wanted to show you that underneath my prickish attitude is someone you could be friends with and I want to share that with you."

To be honest, Snape was a little surprised at how mature Potter was been. Not that he was going to believe it for been sincere. More like an elaborate ploy to try and get a date with Lily to conquer the only girl who could resist him.

"Friends?" Lily asked unsurely, though her tone of voice was one he recognised instantly. It was one where she was weighing the pros and cons. "Just friends?" Oh god. She couldn't really be falling for Potter's lies could she. He thought Lily was smarter than this.

"Yea." Potter ran his hands through his hair and instead of snapping at him, Lily simply ignored the habit she hated. "Don't get me wrong, I still like you a lot and would love it if you went out with me. But right now I want to simply deal with what has been going on recently and become someone that deserves you." A blush stained Potter's cheeks as he lowered his gaze to the table. "I want you to feel the same way I feel about you and if that can't happen then I simply want to be friends."

Snape snorted quietly. Who was James trying to convince? Himself. This was a load of rubbish that Potter was making up to get Lily to like him. Well it wouldn't work. Lily was smarter than this and if not, he would intervene.

"So will you?" Lily looked down at the Transfiguration book on the table before slowly looking back up at James.

"Okay." Snape watched in horror as James gave a bright smile that was returned with one of Lily's shy ones. "Don't make me regret this Potter." She warned though it lacked most of her hatred.

Potter shook his head rapidly to the point he hoped his neck would snap and this nightmare would end. "You won't, I promise." Then the two descended into silence with neither knowing exactly to say. "Hey, Eva-Lily?"

"Hmm?" Snape could feel his stomach clenching painfully as Lily allowed Potter to refer to her by her first name. It was a sign that he was losing her. For two weeks he had spent demeaning himself to gain her forgiveness and Potter simply walks up and then they are friends. Just like that.

"Why did you accept it so easily? I thought you hated me and was fully expecting you to turn me away without even allowing me to talk." This made Snape lean in closer to hear better. He needed to know what made Lily give in so easily.

"I never hated you." So she had lied all those times she raged about Potter. "Disliked you, yes. I disliked the way you were so arrogant and bullied everyone and I never really put much thought into seeing why someone like Remus and my friend Marlene liked you so much. I was so blinded by how much of an arrogant prat you were and simply took that at face value." Lily snorted as a bittersweet smile came upon her face, Potter watched her with a small frown on his face was he listened to what she had to say.

"Though it's become plainly obvious that I'm not very good at judging people and if I was wrong about my childhood friend, then I could be wrong about you." James's frown deepened while Snape could feel his eyes sting and his vision become slightly blurry. "I'm also just so tired of all this fighting. I just want it to stop and I can see that you're putting in the effort to change who you are. So, I'm willing to give you a chance, James."

Unable to bare been near the two, Snape spun on his heel and stormed out. His face permanently marred by a scowl while his mind rushed through numerous thoughts going through his mind. How could Lily just forgive Potter like that, she had hated him – well, apparently she never had – for so long and now she was willing to be his friend.

Not on his watch.

Lily would eventually see that Potter would never change and she would return to him. He would make sure of it. Because she was his and no one else's.

However, he knew one thing. James Potter would have to be dealt with, but not right now. As much as he hated to admit it, Potter was far more skilled in the practical application of magic than himself and was also far more powerful. Enough so that he had even gained the interest of the Dark Lord. Something that irritated him even more.

 **-X- Line Break -X-**

"...putting in the effort to change who you are. So, I'm willing to give you a chance, James."

Lily looked up and stared into James's hazel eyes and saw the happiness and mischievousness that had been dimmed ever so much at the start of the conversation, return with a vengeance. And she was happy to see it. Seeing James look so defeated and tired had been so strange and she hated it.

She was also really curious about what had happened to make James change the way he was. Gone was the arrogant way he held himself. Oh, he still held himself high, but it lacked the usual arrogance and simply radiated confidence. Not only that, but his eyes held a level of maturity that she hadn't seen before in his eyes and she was glad to see that he was serious about changing.

"Thank you, Lily." Giving him a small smile, the redhead turned back down to the parchment before groaning in annoyance. Before James and arrived she had been so close to finally getting a hang of the homework and now she had absolutely no clue what she had originally planned to write.

"It's not funny." She grumbled in annoyance as she heard James chuckling beside her.

"Oh I disagree. I never thought I'd see the day when Lily Evans struggled with homework." Her eyes narrowed in annoyance, but James simply smiled cheekily at her before leaning over to see what she had written. "You've done the beginning part wrong. When changing an inanimate object into an animate object you need to visualise the way the animate object would move. So for example, turning a cup into a cat. You need to know the way the cat moves and acts."

"Never knew you could be so smart." Lily spoke as she wrote down what James had said. She had been a little shocked at how well James had explained the answer to her without making her feel stupid and it was nice. She had expected him to bragging and Lily had to remind herself that James had and was still changing. "Can you help me with my essay, I'm good at it, but Transfiguration isn't my best subject"."

There was more silence and Lily wondered if she had perhaps made a mistake.

That train of thought was instantly squashed when she saw the smile that came onto James's features. It was a true, genuine smile that she had never seen. She had seen his smirks, his crooked grins and his mischievous/flirtatious smiles, but never a genuine one like one before her and she felt her face heat up in embarrassment.

"Okay." James replied quietly and Lily returned his smile with one of her own. Perhaps been friends with James wouldn't be so bad after all.

 **-X- Line Break -X-**

"Hey, Marlene!" The fifth year in question looked up from her current conversation with Alice and watched as the handsome Sirius Black plopped into the seat beside her. Remus and Peter following at a much more sedated pace.

"What do you want Black?" Marlene asked hesitantly. Sirius was handsome, there was no doubt about it, but he also had a reputation as a womaniser and she really didn't fancy been another 'conquest' to him. "If you're asking for a shag then you can get lost." Alice cracked a smile as did she when she saw the shocked look on Sirius's face.

Quickly shaking off his shock, Sirius shook his head. "Nah, I need your help finding James. Can't find him anywhere and I think he went to find Evans." The two Gryffindor girls cringed at that, knowing it probably wasn't the best idea that James talked to Lily. Despite it been the final night that they would spend at Hogwarts, Lily was still very much upset about what happened two weeks ago and James may just make it worse.

"No idea and I haven't seen Lils either so that's not very good." Marlene answered.

"You really don't think he's gone to talk to Lily, do you?" Asked Alice and got a nod of the head from the other three members of the Marauders. "Damn."

"Yea, that was our reaction." Peter laughed nervously. The very thought of an angry Lily was almost as terrifying as angry James, neither were good for ones health as they both had a bad temper.

"I don't think we need to worry about finding them anymore…I think I've found them." Remus spoke up and the four Gryffindors stared at the Prefect in confusion before following his gaze to see Lily and James walking towards them together talking animatedly. James must have said something funny as Lily muffled her laughter behind her hands, while James chuckled in amusement. To them they looked like friends and it was incredibly confusing.

Something that other Gryffindors were also equally confused about. Lily and James had been at odds their entire time at Hogwarts and while James obviously had feelings for Lily, they weren't returned. Lily hated James and here they were talking and laughing like the best of friends.

"Hey guys." James greeted with a small wave while Lily gave a smile before they sat down, James besides Remus and Lily besides Alice. "Err, guys?" James questioned as all he and Lily received were blank stares from the group of fifth years.

"I think their a little shocked." Lily answered James's unasked question, while looking at her friends with an amused smile upon her face.

Groaning, James leaned forward and nudged Remus with his elbow. "Honestly, you act like me and Lily can't be friends." Remus shook his head and gave a quick glance between the female Prefect and James just to make sure that he hadn't imagined what had happened.

"You can't really blame us. You and Lily didn't exactly get on." Remus said and this seemed to be the very thing that woke up the rest of the group and before they could even do anything, Lily was dragged away by Marlene and Alice. Despite the surprise of this action, Lily gave a small smile in James's direction before disappearing up the stairs towards the girls dormitory.

Returning the smile, James turned back to see the question and amused stares of the rest of the Marauders.

"So Prongise, when did you and Evans get so chummy?" Sirius asked with a suggestive grin upon his face. "Drag her into a broom closet and show how her how big your wand is?" Peter chuckled before bursting out into laughter with Sirius and Remus looked to be struggling to quell his own laughter and instead settled with a very strained smile.

James on the other hand shook his head in amusement and hidden by his robes, shot a stinging hex and Sirius who let out a yelp of pain. Grumbling as he rubbed his stinging shin, he glared at James who simply gave him a smirk.

"Got anything else to say, Padfoot?" Sirius opened his mouth as to do exactly that, but Remus quickly intervened.

"Okay now, I think that's enough." He said sternly and begrudgingly, Sirius closed his mouth and crossed his arms over his chest. Peter meanwhile looked between the three of his friends with a bright grin on his face.

"But seriously, Prongs. What did you do?" Peter asked excitedly getting a smile from James as he recounted to the three Marauders exactly what happened. By the end of it, Sirius seemed torn between happy and disgruntled that nothing sexual had happened. Peter was just happy and Remus seemed a mix between happy and proud that his friend and pseudo leader had acted so maturely.

"I'm glad you and Lily managed to sort things about between the two of you." Remus finally broke the silence that had descended upon the Marauders. "Just try not to mess things up." This got a chuckle from James as he nodded his head in agreement.

"So there was no broom closet tumble?" Sirius whined like a child been denied candy.

A laugh escaped James's mouth as he rose to his feet and made his way towards Sirius. "No, Padfoot. No brook closet tumble." Then he passed Sirius and made his way towards their dorm room, Sirius following behind him.

"Come on, Prongsie. Not even a snog, or a kiss, or a hug. Come on Prongs there had to be something. Tell me." Remus and Peter watched the two go barely containing their mirth and James shot down each and every attempt that Sirius made to discover exactly what he and Lily had been doing.

Meanwhile, Marlene and Alice laid on their respective beds in silence as they tried to comprehend what happened. Lily watched as their faces went through varied emotions ranging from, annoyance, confusion, sadness and then eventually happiness.

"Lily." Marlene finally spoke up. "Thank you."

While shocked and confused, that didn't stop Lily from smiling at her friend. "Your welcome, though I'm a little confused about why you're thanking me." The redheaded Prefect turned to look at Alice only to see her having the same smile on her face.

"You know how me and James are cousins?" Marlene uttered after rising into a sitting position with her legs crossed. "And how me and my parents aren't exactly what you'd call close?" Another nod. "This led to me spending a lot of my childhood over with James and his parents, I've told you that haven't I?"

"Yea, but I'm confused on what you're trying to tell me by repeating yourself." Lily answered truthfully.

"Well, recently James's uncle, Fleamont Potter has come down with one of the worst cases of Dragon Pox seen so far and they say he probably won't live to see the end of next year and it really struck home with James. Because while his uncle is always travelling, he and his uncle are really close, like really close."

"Oh." Lily didn't have anything to say about that. What could she say? Then she finally felt a huge amount of sympathy for her new friend, she could hardly imagine what he must be going through knowing that even though there is a cure for the disease, it won't save the uncle he loved so much. The emotional pain and torment it must have and still be giving him was too much for her to even imagine.

"The reason why I'm thanking you Lils is because James is like a brother to me and as of a week ago. This is the happiest I've seen him since he heard the news. So thank you." Unable to do anything except stare down at her bed sheets, Lily collapsed backwards onto it. Marlene and Alice doing the same as they allowed sleep to finally claim them. Lily however, stayed awake for another hour, unable to comprehend how been friends with her made James so happy.

What was so great about her that James could still smile and laugh despite knowing his uncle may never live long enough to even see him graduate or have a family.

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed my first attempt at a Lily and James story so please leave a review that has any criticism or praise. Also I hope you liked that I had James apologise to Lily at the end of fifth year and the reasoning on why Lily agreed to become friends with James so easily.**

 **As for the question on James's parentage. Fleamont and Euphemia will actually be James's aunt and uncle as I like the idea of James been the son of Charlus and Dorea more than the other two.**

 **The next chapter of this will pick up at the start of sixth year, so I hope you enjoyed and once again, please leave a review to let me know what you thought.**


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